The first thing I have is a good idea. That is usually followed by a url idea. The url is the web address people will type into a browser to find you. It's usually ideal to use a few key words in the address that clearly define what you are offering. First you have to find out if it's available and then if yes, register it! The cost isn't much, only about $10, but it is a yearly renewable fee. The first year is usually a bit cheaper, and renewals are a few dollars more. For this reason it is better to buy a two year license of the url when you first purchase it. I like Sibername as they have an easy platform and good customer service. I am providing my affiliate link here as that helps me track who thought this was a good idea plus make a buck on new registrations, which helps to pay for my own url registering addiction, as it were.

The next thing you need is a hosting account for server space. Again here's my affiliate link to Dreamhost who I am very happy with. Great site that allowed me to forget a lot of technical stuff I had to learn in the early days about updating websites and installing software... These guys make it easy with one-click installs that include wordpress of course and a whole myriad of other goodies I'll go into at a later date! Promise! It's a date!

So once you have those two accounts registered, we'll be able to walk you through the next steps. If you need help please reach out. Basically you have to update your DNS records on sibername to the dreamhost nameservers. I will soon be uploading some youtube videos on this, so keep watch on my channel. This is just a little clip of one of my favourite moments of this summer, watching Nosferatu in the park, with a live orchestra.

Okay so once you have Dreamhost, go to one click installs on your dashboard and put wordpress on your site. You'll get an email when its installed. Just follow the directions. I will be adding some youtube videos on this as well and/or doing a webinar or periscope about it too. You can follow me on Periscope, why not?

To talk to me or at me, I still think Twitter is the best way, at least for quick comments, questions, reaching out to connect or share links. It's free and connected. So if you aren't already, follow me there. I always follow everyone back.

Of course not enough can be said about Facebook. You'll need a facebook account to get anything done in the modern world. And for your biz, brand or offer, you'll want a facebook page. Connect with me on mine where you can post questions and follow my useful tidbits & tips.

Email marketing is a must. You need to collect emails easily and manage those contacts. You need the spam protections of either Mailchimp or Constant Contact. I like Constant Contact but I'm having fun with Mailchimp too. If you want my affiliate link for Constant Contact here it is, sign up for free for the first two months plus I'll send you a thank you email if you use my link! But first sign up for my email list.

And now, get your account with Constant Contact. I prefer them not just because they have a great platform for everything from automating responders to promoting social campaigns and making sure your emails look great and don't get put into spam folders, but also because you can call them or reach out for help and they go out of their way to help you!

If you are really doing things on a budget, MailChimp is free for under 1000 subscribers. They don't have the same features and responsiveness but you can use them initially if you like. I like their new interface and they seem to have ironed out some glitches. Please don't use them if you're going to go viral though, the results could be undesirable. That's what happened when one of my clients' products went viral and MailChimp locked us out and would not communicate with us after we uploaded too many new emails manually. What a bother! Thankfully Constant Contact rescued us.

Pinterest has a lot of great uses. It is basically a place for images that often link to sites. If you are browsing online shopping sites and you see something you like you can "pin it" to a "wall" and refer to it again later, or show all your friends. I sign in with my Twitter account. I find that easiest. For some reason I can't get my own account to pop up here, but find me as "soconscious" on pintrest.